Estonia's Sküllfükk SS are all about bringing the booze and keeping the tradition of speed/black/thrash alive, as their most recent release, "Uncut Speed," can attest to that. So brace yourselves, ladies and gents, as we get down and dirty with the Black Death Speed Metal commando that is SKULLFUKK SS!
To
inaugurate this interview, please introduce yourselves and tell us
the story behind how Sküllfükk SS was conceived.
Vödkamizer:
I am Vödkamizer, guitarist and co-founder of the band. The band came
about in late 2017 during a depression-fueled bender I was on. I met
Motörbreath online some months before when trying to sell some of my
guitar gear since I was dirt poor and needed rent. I got drunk one
night during the winter and sent him a message simply asking if he
would be interested in making some kinda old school black / thrash
metal project (originally thinking in the vein of Deströyer 666 and
Gospel of The Horns). He said yes and we met up and started jamming
around, though I was more shit on guitar than I am now so it did take
a while in the beginning. Some time during 2018 I had been drinking
with Beerhämmer and offered him the position as drummer under the
false pretense that we would sound like Chrome Division. He and I went way back so I figured lying was the best way to go about getting him
involved. We didn't start rehearsing together until the beginning of
2019.
Motörbreath:
Motörbreath is the name, pretending to be able to sing and play my
instrument is the game. I moved to Estonia in the summer of 2017,
some months later I saw Vödkamizer selling his amplifier and I was
interested in it. Didn’t end up buying it but as he mentioned
before he contacted me to form a black/thrash band and I was quite
hungry for creating something new since I wasn’t busy with
anything. After a bit of beer and some rockin riffs we wrote our
first song Alkopökalypse Now.
It’s
my first official role as a bass player so it was quite fun for me
moving from my usual guitar duties. I had some experience in playing
and singing at the same time but never in this fashion, I’ve mostly
done growling in the past in a death metal band called Urðun.
How
did you come up with the name Sküllfükk SS, and what is the
connotation behind it? Have you received any backlash from snowflakes
due to your name?
Furthermore,
do you think metal has become too safe and rife with political
correctness?
Vödkamizer:
I
had originally come up with the name around 2013-2014, something in
that area. I was playing in two local black metal bands at that time
and had an idea to make a thrash metal band as a creative outlet. It
never really went anywhere but when Motörbreath and I started
jamming I suggested the name and we gave more depth to it. I think he
was the one who suggested the umlauts and we also had the idea that
the SS should stand for "Satänik Slüts" as our lyrics
largely revolve around drinking and fükking. (more so fükking)
We
haven't actually had too much trouble with it. Mostly from random
people online who don't know what we are all about. I think the most
trouble we have had was with a compilation we were supposed to be on,
a drummer from another band (I don't even remember the name) had said
that we have to use our full spelled out name "Sküllfükk
Satänik Slüts" because he doesn't like the SS part since he is
an antifa or something. Usually I would be fine with compromising and
using the full name if it was an issue of simply being worried about
the label getting flak since the world we live in these days is hard
to be edgy künts in but this seemed more personal so we said fükk
it and backed out of the compilation.
I
would definitely agree with the idea that metal has "become too
safe and rife with political correctness". When you look at the
bands in the 80s/90s and the underground scene from all over the
world, they all sing about some pretty over the top stuff that is
definitely offensive to someone who is not really into that music and
scene. It is supposed to be offensive. Metal has always been about
pushing the limit, musically and lyrically. We live in a pretty
desensitized society these days and political correctness seems to
have this "all inclusive" agenda, where everyone from
everywhere with every belief has to be accounted for, regardless if
they are your target audience. You have to cater to their wants and
needs and to deviate is the cardinal sin. Metal's broad genre has
become all inclusive and safe and that is fine because there will
always be some underground bands of ässhöles who are going to push
the limits and tell everyone to fükk öff and kill themselves.
Motörbreath:
As
Vödkamizer said, it was mostly his idea with a lot of riffing around
and mucking about. I feel the SS part has more connections to the
Italian heavy demons of Death SS if anything. The reason for a double
K as opposed to correct spelling comes from the love of pure 80s-90s
kvlt cheese like Sadistik Exekution for example. I don’t really
think we need to explain ourselves too much, it’s just for fun.
Like Frank Zappa’s music, either you get it or you don’t. Not
that we’re anywhere as musically talented, but I digress.
Your
band plays a mix of thrash, speed, and old-school black metal, but in
your own words, how would you describe your sound and what are your
biggest influences?
Vödkamizer:
While
we haven't existed for very long, I would personally say our style is
constantly evolving with every song we write. The genre name that we
have called BDSM (black/death/speed metal) is more just a funny
gimmick name than a literal descriptor of our sound. I would say we
are some kind of bad street metal punk mixed with glammy skümmy
speed metal. The biggest influences on my songwriting, especially
lately, have been Abigail/Barbatos, Tank, Angel Witch, Shitfuckers,
GG Allin and The Jabbers, and Billy Idol.
Motörbreath:
It’s
like an amoeba, always changing. The musical fundamentals always stay
with street/speed metal and first wave black metal is best black
metal. Rest is gay and boring. Personally I take great inspiration
from most of which Vödkamizer mentioned including Midnight, Venom,
Bootsy Collins(Fünk is also cool fükk you), early-Helloween,
Manilla Road, Thor, Tygers of Pan Tang, Tiger Junkies, Manowar,
Exciter and a myriad of other bands. I could go all day name dropping
good shit but best keep it simple for the time being. ÏA ÏA - All
hail the Time Being!
What
can you tell us about the Estonian metal scene? There seems to be a
myriad of killer, yet underrated bands from your country. Which
bands/’zines/labels can you recommend us?
Vödkamizer:
The Estonian metal scene is extremely diverse. I have been living
here around ten years and have seen a lot happen in those few years.
The scene is always getting bigger as far as the bands go and right
now there seems to be a population boom with the younger audience, a
lot of teenager skümbägs getting into the Devil's music. The scene
is relatively small in Estonia and very interconnected as opposed to
other places where metal scenes are separated by genre. We are too
small to do that and won't really survive if we all become elitists
in that way so you will find concerts that have very different bands
performing together and it is great because everyone gets hammered
and parties hard, regardless of what shitty music they play.
I
would recommend the bands Koffin, Ziegenhorn, Süngehel, Goatsmegma,
Langenu, Form, Deceitome, Paean, Tankist, Urt, Herald, and
Tharaphita. Just off of the top of my head. As for labels, Trash Can
Dance and Hexenreich Records are the main two I would recommend. They
both are one-man operations and focus on MC releases. The only zine I
have read that comes out of here is done by Motörbreath, called
Morbid Writes and it is heilarious and great.
Motörbreath:
I
feel the Estonian metal scene is often very disjointed because I feel
as if there is a lot of misguided rivalry that comes across as some
sort of jealousy and unwillingness to cooperate. I’m not speaking
in absolutes of course, I feel that here in Tartu there is some sort
of cum-radery. It can be a bit different between the capital area and
the rest but that also felt that way in my home country as
well.
Some good things mentioned by Vödkamizer but you
should definitely check out the bands Aggressor, Igor Mortis,
Forgotten Sunrise, Discrucior, Nekropol, Hymenotomy, Loits,
Thrashless, Tankist, Nihilistikrypt, Rattler, Degeneratör, Winny
Puhh, Catafalc, Mortified, Skydancer, Intrepid, Necro Strike and I
recommend the labels Warhorn Records and Lyndanise Coven. As for
zines, go read Taud and Offense Zine. I’m sort of fed up with doing
Morbid Writes for now.
How
has the response been towards your latest demo, “Uncut Speed”?
Vödkamizer:
I
have seen a few reviews online. One seemed pretty mild, others have
seemed pretty enthusiastic about it. But I would say that the brunt
of our listeners have really loved it. The demo is just most of our
old songs recorded and got out of the way so we can focus on newer
material. I hear people blasting it at the local drinking park once
in a while so that's neat. Our tapes sell pretty fast and have been
getting more and more international fans since the release, big
thanks to Corrupted Flesh Records and Karl Korts for being great at
doing promo since we are cavemen and can barely ooga chaka. It's been
cool to see people tagging us on Instagram and Facebook, blasting our
shit while getting hämmered.
Motörbreath:
I
haven’t been paying much attention to it to be honest, with my
previous bands I used to check if any reviews were made all the time
but I’ve become very passive about it. Not that I don’t care, I’m
just not thinking about it since it’s mostly about my own musical
expression anyway. However, contrary to that, I do love some
constructive criticism. If you say some shit like “it’s okay but
I prefer Iron Maiden” you can miss me with that noise.
Who
is the woman on the cover of your demo, and why did you opt for a
pink cover?
Vödkamizer:
Her name is Faye Reagan and she is a pornstar. I could lie and say we
commissioned her for a photoshoot to get that perfect picture but no,
I found it on Google and sent it to Motörbreath to do his magic on.
We were originally planning to do a drawn or painted album cover and
that photo was going to be used as reference but it was already just
so perfect and how can you emulate those tits?
As
for the pink cover, I can't really remember how we came to it. I
think I originally was talking with Motörbreath about doing black
and white with a pink casing for the tape but we eventually decided
to just go for the pussy pink look. It stands out. We have naked
ladies in our art and we sing about sex so we can get away with it.
Corrupted Flesh Records even released pink versions of the shirts
which just look so sexy. All the -2 women reading this, go buy one.
Motörbreath:
I
think we decided to do pink covers because the idea of a “püssy
pink release” sounded funny. Pussies are cool. But please, the more
chicks digging our shit, the better. Would be a great change from
playing in front of aging desperate sweaty male alcoholics. So
ladies, without further adieu, bang your head up from the dead,
intense metal is all that you need!
The
production on your demo has a very raw, yet killer sound. Can you
tell us a bit more about the type of sound you were going for,
including some details about the recording process? Are you satisfied
with the result?
Vödkamizer:
We wanted to have an old demo sound like the bands we listen to had
so we were going for that "we're 17, poor and have no idea what
we're doing" sound which is pretty close to our reality, but ten
years late. We recorded everything in the rehearsal room we used with
whatever gear we had available to us. I used my cheap little practice
amp for the guitar.
Motörbreath:
Yeah
same, but instead we’re 27, poor and have no idea what we’re
doing. We are more or less happy with it, restricting ourselves to
what we have at hand is an exciting task. There were some minor
fuck-ups while recording some of the instruments causing
inconsistencies but whatever, we didn’t bother re-recording. It’s
just a demo. Technically long enough to be an EP though!
Some
of your photos show the band with alcohol. Do you consider yourselves
to be hardcore drinkers? One might get the impression that Skullfukk
SS is a “fun” band, although that’s probably a ludicrous
assumption.
Vödkamizer:
While I am less of an alcoholic these days due to responsibility and
health issues, I still drink fairly regularly and sometimes to
extremes, though not like I used to. When we started the band I would
say I was at the peak of my alcoholism. I would say we are fun. We
put the "fun" in "funeral". I think the main
thing that drives us even doing this band is the fun that we have
when doing it. I really love playing alongside Motörbreath.
Beerhämmer and I go waaaaaaaay back to when I first started playing
in bands in Tartu in 2013. If we aren't enjoying ourselves in
rehearsal, recording, on stage, what the fükk are we even doing? And
I think this attitude has a way of transfering to the fans. We have
developed our own weird language with using umlauts in like...
everything possible to where the fans will start using them when
sending messages or doing posts about us which is pretty fünny.
During our first public concert, we had a promotion that would give a
discount to anyone who showed up wearing BDSM gear and a surprising
amount of people did. Our music is high energy, fast, and aggressive
and lends itself more to the types of people who wanna get fükked
up, headbang, moshpit, and then fükk someone after the show. I would
say that all three of us are fairly humorous and it is impossible for
that to not leak into our music.
Motörbreath:
It’s
just an image for the band. I don’t drink a whole lot at all, in
fact I’m not even into partying! I do like some beer and good
whiskey on occasions. Big fan of Nikka whiskeys, single malts and
craft beers. So fucking expensive though. Music-wise it’s all about
putting the fun in the bun if you know what I mean. So not a
Luda-Chris assumption at all. What you gonna do? Act a fool!
What
can you tell you about your live output and what people can expect
from it? Do you guys drink before you go on stage, or are you one of
those bands with a ‘sober before we play’ policy?
Vödkamizer:
We play fast. We play loud. And we will -definitely- fükk songs up
on stage. I drink a bit before playing, mostly for the nerves and to
get into the zone, but I have made the mistake in the past too many
times to get too fükked up before getting on stage and not being
able to properly play the songs, mostly in previous bands. These days
if I drink for at least 2 days straight then I should be fine but my
health does suffer from it quite a bit. I think that recognizing your
own limitations physically and mentally is very important if you are
gonna be drünk or sober on stage. I can't play entirely sober, I
just can't get in the mood.
Motörbreath:
In
real life I’m quite reserved but live I can put on a persona to let
off some steam and break a good sweat. I like having a couple of
bevvies with the boys before playing to loosen up because if I’m
all relaxed, the performance goes much smoother in my opinion. I once
played a bit drunk but realized that I sounded like shit so I kept it
at reasonable levels after that. If you want to be sober while
playing, you do you. Unless I have to drive after, then I don’t
drink. Obviously, drunk driving is for losers.
What’s
some of your favourite records of all time?
Vödkamizer:
Where do I even begin... Iced Earth's self titled album and Blind
Guardian's "Battalions of Fear" were the two albums that
really got me into metal as a kid. "Unchain The Wolves" and
"Cold Steel For An Iron Age" by Deströyer 666, "Forever
Street Metal Bitch" by Abigail, "Abigail" by King
Diamond, "Don't Break The Oath" by Mercyful Fate, "Angel
Witch" and "Frontal Assault" by Angel Witch,
"Painkiller" by Judas Priest, everything with the "Speed
Metal" label released by Banzai Records, "Hall of The
Mountain King" by Savatage, "The Underground Resistance"
by Darkthrone, "Heavy Metal Maniac" and "Violence &
Force" by Exciter, "Court In The Act" by Satan,
"Shellshock" EP and "This Means War" by Tank.
Shellshock specifically has to be the EP version. Not going to bother
listing non-metal because it would go on and on... Those are just a
few off of the top of my head but I could go on for hours...
Motörbreath:
Now
this list will be a bit diverse. Thin Lizzy’s “Bad Reputation”,
Büdi Siebert’s “Hmm…”, Thomas Dolby’s “Aliens Ate My
Ferrari”, Frank Zappa’s “Sheik Yerbouti”, Morbid Angel’s
“Thy Kingdom Come” and “Altars of Madness”, 1986 Omega
Tribe’s “Another Summer”, Judas Priest’s “Sad Wings of
Destiny”, Masayoshi Takanaka’s “Alone”, King Diamond’s
“Abigail”, Death’s “Individual Thought Patterns” and Jeff
Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds. I could go on and
on, this list changes from time to time of course. Funny enough I
don’t even like Motörhead all that much despite people saying
we’re kinda like a diet version of that.
What’s
your preferred format in regards to physical releases? Are you one of
those people that seek out every possible format and edition of your
favourite albums?
Vödkamizer:
Cassette tape > Vinyl > CD. I am too broke so I usually buy
tapes because they are cheap and small. If I had a ton of disposable
income I would probably buy... more tapes. Maybe some more vinyl. I
only get CDs really if it is the only option, not that I have
anything against them, I just like the process involved with tapes
and vinyl. There is a certain added element of appreciation I get
when I go through the effort to care for these products and their
players.
Motörbreath:
I’m
not that type of die-hard fan collector. I know a few mad collectors,
like a friend of mine who has almost every single piece of
merchandise, music releases and re-releases by Necromantia. I haven’t
bought a CD in years now. For some reason I’m mostly drawn to
cassette tapes. My fascination for them started a couple of years
after I started buying a bunch of vinyl records, around that time I
stopped buying CDs. I mostly just buy shit I like, don’t fancy
having it in multiple formats though. I think it’s just so much
more of a fun “ritual” listening to music in a physical analog
format like that. Call me a hipster and retarded but I don’t give a
damn, I enjoy going whizzing up some black wax metal madness or
getting a juicy tape to listen on my Walkman EX-39. However, if I am
to be compelled to buy a CD, it has to be something special, like the
CD surface would have the shiny parts glare through. Doesn’t hurt
to have a good looking layout. When it’s said, don’t judge a book
by its cover, I think that’s irrelevant when it comes to albums.
It’s the first thing you notice! Check out releases from Awakening
Records, they’ve got some beautiful eye-catching CDs.
When
will we see a full-length materialize, and what’s your future plans
with the band? Do you have any merchandise available?
Vödkamizer:
We are currently finishing the conceptualizing and writing for our
full length. Sadly, it could be the last big release we do for the
foreseeable future as Motörbreath will be moving away in about a
year from now. So we are just putting as much effort as we can into
that release to make it something special for us. We are constantly
pumping out limited t-shirts, tank tops, patches, tapes, etc. You
just have to follow us online or know us to be able to get some.
Corrupted Flesh Records also carries some limited designs for shirts
and patches, though the tapes have sold out already. You can contact
us directly through Instagram or join our private Sküllfükk Satänik
Slüts group on Facebook if you want something.
Motörbreath:
The
full-length album might be out sometime early to middle of next year.
Can’t tell for sure though. It’ll be good regardless of when it’s
released, that’s a Sküllfükk prömise. Before that we’re
releasing a split EP, total sleaze bangers from us called “Kamikaze
Slüt” and “Tokyö Püssy XXXtreme”. The other band will be the
mighty Barbatos from Japan. Very excited about this.
Thanks
for answering my questions! And for a last question: tell us about
some of your interests outside of playing music – are any of you
guys into sports, artwork, hiking, or anything like that, or do you
prefer drinking yourselves into a pulp until you barf your lungs out?
Vödkamizer:
I love doing long cycling and camping trips as well as nature hikes
but haven't had much opportunity for it lately. Hopefully in the near
future. I dabble in writing stories and am working on a couple of
table-top roleplaying games for myself and my friends. If they come
out cool then I might release them to the public but that is a long
way off for now. I drink a lot and enjoy organizing events when
possible, sometimes concerts or festivals or simple group camping
type things.
Motörbreath:
I
wish I could say I’m into sports, been meaning to get fitter for
years but lethargy and laziness is killing me haha. I fucking love
cooking interesting tasty meals. I also watch a shitload of films,
quite enjoy watching some horror b-movies with my wife, TROMA reigns
supreme. Kino stuff is always appreciated as well, The Lighthouse was
amazing for example. I also do a bunch of artwork as my dayjob, which
is also my hobby.
Check it out @skadvaldur on Instagram and Facebook!
I make b&w illustrations and paintings for extreme metal bands.
If you have a cool band and you need a logo/motif/painting/drawing
hit me up on social media or email me at
skadvaldur.art@gmail.com
Drinking
in bars often is too expensive, just get fucked at home!
